Juval Porat Explained

Juval Porat is a Jewish cantor known for his work in promoting LGBT inclusion within the Jewish community. He has also performed music that reflects his experiences as a gay man.^[1]

Life

Born in Israel, Porat moved to Germany before moving back to Israel to study at school and yeshiva. He later moved back to Germany to study architecture at Aachen, and graduated in 2004.^[2] He also studied at the Jewish Institute of Cantorial Arts in Abraham Geiger College, a rabbinic seminary at the University of Potsdam.^[3] He was ordained as a cantor in Berlin in 2009, the first cantor ordained in Germany since the Holocaust.^{[4] [5] [6]}

In 2021, he became the official cantor of the LGBT synagogue Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC) in Los Angeles^[7] and now sings hymns at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach, Florida.^[8]

Notes and References

1. News: Geiser . Laura . Lieberman . Morgan . Meet The World's First LGBTQ Synagogue . . 27 November 2018 . en.
2. News: Landsberg . Mitchell . Mitchell Landsberg . L.A. synagogue hires first cantor ordained in Germany since WWII . . 26 June 2010.
3. News: Axelrod . Toby . Reform rabbis to be ordained in Berlin . . 18 June 2009.
4. News: Jüdischer Kantor in Berlin ordiniert. Jewish cantor ordained in Berlin . . 18 June 2009 . de.
5. News: Erster jüdischer Kantor seit 1945. First Jewish cantor since 1945 . . 18 June 2009 . de.
6. News: Helmig . Martina . Wie ein Israeli Kantor einer Potsdamer Kirche wurde. How an Israeli became cantor of a church in Potsdam . . 29 August 2009 . de.
7. News: Pioneering Cantor Joins Gay Synagogue . . 28 June 2010.
8. News: Far from Israel, Jews grieve and pray for peace in Shabbat services held as Israel-Hamas war rages . . 14 October 2023.